Fill in the Blanks AMC 4-U5Online version AMC 4-U5 by Clara Chen 1 solutions looking while stirred resolved demand network alternatives elevation species harm mining depriving Uncontrolled sand has dreadful effects on the environment . Sucking up sand from riverbeds destroys the habitats of bottom - dwelling creatures . The sediment up in the process can also suffocate fish and block out sunlight that underwater plants need . As well as threatening the wildlife found in rivers , this process has also caused significant to entire communities of people . The Mekong Delta , an area covered by a of river systems in southern Vietnam , is home to 20 million people and supplies much of Southeast Asia's rice . Around 800 of fish and the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin also live there . But its environment is eroding away , with the riverbed having lowered in by 1 . 4 meters in a mere decade . This is partly due to sand mining occurring upriver . The delta depends on sediment flowing down from Central Asia to replenish its riverbeds each year , but sand mining is the area of these deposits . As a result , erosion is causing riverbanks to collapse , dragging farmland and residences down with them . Researchers say that half the delta's land will likely be gone by the end of the century if the situation isn't . Fortunately , the industries where sand is used the most are working to create to this critical issue . Researchers in the UK have made a new building material called Finite by reshaping desert sand grains . It has half the carbon footprint of normal concrete and is even biodegradable . Some researchers are to grind down and recycle old concrete to use in new construction , others are experimenting with sand such as ash , plastic , or crushed palm shells and rice husks . But even with these new innovations , it will likely take substantial effort to curb the for sand .
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